


It's always a good time in Duscae

by Jerevinan



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Adoption, Childhood, Chocobos, Developing Friendships, Fluff, Growing Up, Humor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-11
Updated: 2017-05-11
Packaged: 2018-10-17 12:37:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 12,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10594167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jerevinan/pseuds/Jerevinan
Summary: Noctis is ten and going to the chocobo post for the first time. There, he meets the proprietor's adopted son, Prompto, and a friendship is born.[AU where Prompto is adopted by Wiz, everything is peaceful, and everyone lives. No ships yet, but future Promptio, Ignoct, and Ignea possible.]





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I wanted to write this AU about two months ago. This came after I was disappointed Prompto couldn’t go to the carnival with Noctis. What better than a childhood of chocobos and yearly visits to the carnival because his father sets up chocobo races there?
> 
> The idea first had Cid bringing Cindy, too, but I think that might’ve been too overwhelming so I cut them out for now (they’ll probably show up in later chapters, but I've got to consider whether to add Cindy's parents or not first). 
> 
> Some details: there aren’t any daemons, there isn’t a crystal, there’s no ring, Regis and Noctis can’t warp, and it's peaceful. Lucis outside of Insomnia isn’t as outdated. The post is also much bigger. I actually spent a while running around the post trying to reimagine it with a sizeable parking lot, multiple cabins and caravans, and even a house for Wiz and Prompto to live in!

“We’re going to see the chocobos during the school break.”

Cries of joy erupted from the kids, leaving Regis no chance to say anything else to them. Maybe some things were better left as a surprise. Noctis hadn’t seen Lunafreya or Ravus in two years. It might be nice to see the look on Noctis’ face when he saw them at the ranch.

Ignis stepped forward and timidly asked what his uncle had had to say. Regis ruffled the boy’s hair.

“He won’t be going with us, but he says you can come.” 

Ignis’ face lit up. “Thank you, your Majesty!”

“Who all’s going?” asked Gladiolus. He pointed to his father, who nodded. “Mom?”

“She’ll be staying here,” said Clarus. “Your mother has something special planned for all of us to make up for missing out.”

“Iris?”

“Of course I am!” Iris latched onto Clarus and looked up at him for confirmation. Sometimes she was too little to do things with the others because she was only five, such as the time Regis took the boys on a theme park ride. Even ice cream with her father and an alternative ride made especially for small children hadn’t soothed the pain of being a few inches shy of joining the others.

“You’re going, don’t worry,” said Clarus. “You’ll be able to ride a chocobo with me.”

Iris let out a squeal and hugged her father, burrowing her face into his jacket. Regis could barely make out the muffled thanks the little girl repeated. Everyone was as excited as he had hoped they would be. The original intent had been to take Noctis and Ignis, but he couldn’t go without his shield even in these peaceful times—even with Cor tagging along. And if Clarus had to go, why not the rest of his family?

“Are we camping while we’re there, Dad?” asked Gladiolus. “I’ve heard they have campsites nearby!”

Clarus turned to Regis.

“Well, we’ve camped before,” said Regis with a shrug. He turned to Ignis and Noctis. He didn’t have to ask the Amicitia children if they would approve. Clarus took them camping all the time, even if they were stuck in the city and had to settle for the backyard on the weekends. “What do you two think about camping?”

Noctis shrugged, but Regis assumed it wouldn’t be a problem. His son could sleep almost anywhere. If Noctis disliked it, there were caravans and cabins available for rent that would offer more reasonable lodgings. As a precaution, he would call ahead to make reservations.

“Ignis?”

“It might be fun,” said Ignis. 

“Can we go fishing?” asked Noctis. His eyes were wide. The poor kid had been stuck fishing out of the local reservoir since he had picked up the hobby. No one ever reeled in more than small fry in that lake, and Regis had been the one to pass a conservation law that forbid anything other than catch and release. 

“There’s the slough nearby,” said Regis. “I might be able to take you down to the docks at least once.”

Noctis high fived Gladiolus. The two of them had each gotten a bonus treat out of this, while Iris and Ignis were satisfied enough to be included at all.

“Are we taking two cars?” asked Gladiolus when the prince redirected his attention to Ignis to chat about fishing gear. “There’s no way we’re all going in the backseat together.”

“We’ll take two cars,” said Regis. “Cor is coming along, too. We haven’t decided who will ride in which car.”

“I’m riding with Ignis,” said Noctis.

“I wanna ride with Noct!” Iris had dislodged from her father to point at the prince.

“No way, there’s no room for you! Ignis is riding in the back with me, and Gladio’s going up front.”

Regis sighed. Poor Iris was going to be left out again, even if he did assign two kids per car, as Clarus as suggested to him earlier. If only they had a bigger vehicle. Even without Cor, it would be too crowded for only the Regalia. And the bigger the crowd, the more the squabbling.

These children would give him a headache on the drive to the chocobo post. 

“Please be nice to one another,” he said sternly to his son. “Iris and Cor can ride with us, and the others can go with Clarus.”

Noctis crinkled up his nose. “Ignis is staying with me.”

Ever since the two had been introduced years ago, Ignis and Noctis were inseparable. They didn’t have loud arguments the way Noctis did with Gladiolus or Iris. Whenever the two _had_ fought, both children were mysteriously quiet and liable to burst into tears as soon as any adult asked them what was wrong. It didn’t take much to sort the issue out. It was always over something peculiar, such as Ignis taking the blame for something Noctis did and Noctis disagreeing with his decision. Both of them had a habit of taking the fall for others.

“We take Ignis and Iris and leave the other two?” suggested Clarus.

“I didn’t do anything wrong!” Gladiolus looked at his father in horror.

“You’re Noct’s shield, you have to stay with him.” Clarus winked at his oldest child.

“No way, you can’t go without us!” shouted Noctis.

“I am starting to like Clarus’ suggestion, Noctis.” Regis frowned at his son. “You’re not being fair to Iris at all.”

“Fine. She can ride in the front seat and Gladio and Ignis can sit in the back with me. Cor can ride with Clarus.”

Regis exchanged looks with Clarus.

“I don’t like that idea,” said Clarus. “Cor should ride with you or drive my car so one of us is with you at all times.”

“And stick the kids with Cor? How can a father be so cruel? He’d bore them to death.” Regis chuckled. “Yes, I understand. I can’t go unprotected. Neither can Noctis. I suppose the four children could ride with you while Cor joins me?”

“Nooooo!” Noctis pouted at his father. “Dad, I wanna ride with you in the Regalia.”

“I’m not sure I want to go at all, now that this is causing so much trouble.” Regis threw up his hands in theatrical frustration. Despite that he was less diplomatic with a group of children than he was as a king, he was still, well, a _king_. He could sort this out, but not before teasing them. “We’ll stuff all four of you in the trunk while Cor and Clarus stretch out in the backseat.”

“You can’t do that to a prince, your Majesty,” said Clarus, mouth twitching as he held back a smile.

“Yeah, you can’t do that, Dad!” Noctis scowled at Regis. “But if Iris rides with us, that means Gladio’s stuck with his dad. There’s no room for all four of us in the back.”

“As if I care that I don’t have to ride with you,” said Gladiolus, shoving Noctis lightly. “I get to hang out with my dad. Too bad you’re missing out.”

“So it’s settled then?” Regis glanced at each of them, one at a time. “Clarus rides with Gladio while Cor and the rest accompany me?” How did he get stuck with the most children? Not that he minded as much as he pretended.

“I guess so,” said Noctis glumly.

“Sounds good to me!” Gladiolus grinned at Clarus.

“Yes, your Majesty.” 

“Yay! I get to ride with Noct!” Iris bounced in place, looking five seconds away from letting out one of her joyous shrieks that often left everyone else in the room temporarily unable to hear.

“I think that settles it,” said Clarus quickly, noticing the same overexcited behavior in his tiny daughter. “I can spend some time with my son, you’re well protected, and Noctis is _mostly_ happy.”

“I can handle Iris,” said Noctis. “But why’d you have to leave me, Gladio?”

“I get to ride alone with my dad. Come on, you know you’d be happy if you were riding alone with your dad.”

Warmth spread through Regis when he saw the look of reverence on his son’s face.

“Yeah, definitely,” agreed Noctis.

Regis embraced him, much to Noctis’ embarrassment. He was looking forward to the trip. The last time either of them had left town, he had taken Noctis to Tenebrae with Clarus at his side. This would be less glamorous, but he hoped all the children enjoyed it nonetheless.


	2. Chapter 2

Prompto hummed as he went about his morning chore of feeding the chocobos. He had heard from Wiz as soon as he got up that the _King of Lucis_ was bringing his son to the post. Most of the employees had worked up a frenzy that involved cleaning every corner of the ranch and setting up appointments to get haircuts.

Prompto sat among the chocochicks and fed them their mix of grains and vegetables by hand. They had recently acquired a black chocobo after some hunters had recovered her egg. He had gotten to watch over her for weeks with his adoptive father, keeping the egg warm and waiting for it to hatch. When she had poked her little head out of the shell, Prompto knew at that moment she was destined to be his best friend.

He would have liked other friends, but there weren’t a lot of kids in rural Duscae. Plenty of them came to see and ride the chocobos, but none of them stayed long. The other employees had children, but they were either younger or older than Prompto. Everyone got along, but it wasn’t the same as having someone near his age to hang out with.

Like the adults, Prompto wanted to make an impression on the royal family. How cool would it be if he got to hang out with Prince Noctis, who was the same age? The idea terrified him as much as it thrilled him.

After he had finished feeding all the chocobos and giving them lots of praise and scratches in their favorite places, he went to his room and started picking out the outfit he would wear when King Regis arrived. He pulled out last year’s official shirt for the moogle chocobo carnival. Wiz always held races at the event. Prompto had been a regular since he was two. The shirt was a bit loose but luckily not too short to wear despite his recent growth spurt. Maybe the prince would be impressed when Prompto told him how well he had done at the races to build up his coins and earn the giant chocobo plushie taking up a corner of his room.

There was a knock on Prompto’s door as he was tidying. His desk needed organized; photos that hadn’t yet been sorted and put in albums were strewn across the top.

“Come in!”

Wiz opened the door and poked his head in. “Thought you might be in here. We have a slight issue.”

Prompto’s heart sunk. Had King Regis cancelled his visit?

“We’ve got another reservation, this time from the royal family of Tenebrae.”

“What? No way! Dad, that’s so cool!”

Wiz grimaced. “It would be under normal circumstances, but some hunters just told me they spotted Deadeye around these parts again.”

Prompto froze at the name. Two years ago, he had heard the growls of the famed behemoth outside his bedroom window, only a few days after it had killed one of their chocobos. Prompto had never cried so hard in his life when he heard about Beans, who had been rented out during the incident. When Prompto heard the monster prowling around not far from the house, he didn’t trust the security system on the property to protect the residents, both human and bird. The next morning, Wiz found him whimpering in his closet and comforted him while the other employees took a look around the property. Deadeye hadn’t gotten in, but they had to stop renting chocobos in case they had another bird on loan die. 

Wiz put out a bounty on the behemoth. Some hunters had managed to take out one of its eyes, earning it the name ‘Deadeye’, but no one had ever been able to slay the thing. It injured several dozen people before it moved on to somewhere else. No one had any idea what had happened to it. The bounty had remained posted in case anyone could bring in proof that it had been exterminated. 

“I’m going to increase the gil reward on Deadeye,” said Wiz. “The birds are going to get skittish if it starts hanging around here again. Remember how freaked out they were last time?”

Prompto nodded. 

“I hate to do this to you, but don’t wander off the property until this is sorted out.”

“I get it, Dad. Don’t worry.”

Wiz scratched at his chin. “I know how much you like them scenic pictures.”

“They can wait.” Prompto’s bounced his left leg. “What about business? This is gonna be real bad, especially with special guests.”

Wiz forced a smile. “Don’t you worry about that. We’ve still got the track, and maybe this’ll all be taken care of before the royal families get here. The hunters I spoke with are already buying potions at the store before they head out to track down its location. Let’s hope they succeed.”

“Yeah! It’ll work out!” Prompto didn’t know what they would do if it didn’t. Last time, some people had been upset when they found out that the chocobos couldn’t leave the ranch. A few of them had tried to pay extra to rent out birds despite the threat, but Wiz wouldn’t have any of it. Absolutely nothing was more important to their family than the birds.

“Yes, it will,” said Wiz, but Prompto didn’t hear the same enthusiasm coming from his father that he had demonstrated. 

Prompto sat on the edge of his bed after his father left the room. He was terrified for the chocobos, but he couldn’t help but worry that he wouldn’t be making any friends if he revealed to all their royal guests how frightened he was of Deadeye.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter, but that's why I'm able to post it so soon after the first. (Chapter three is crazy long, and chapter four is likely to be the same. Editing those is going to take some time.) I couldn't resist including Deadeye. I figure every year should have an adventure, but right now all I have is Deadeye. :')
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

To make up for the eerily peaceful car ride Regis had experienced that morning despite having three children in the backseat, he stepped out of the Regalia and into a chocobo turd. He should have understood it as a bad omen.

Noctis started laughing hard enough he had to lean against the vehicle. When Clarus had finished parking his car, the first thing Noctis did was call out to Gladiolus.

“Gladio, don’t get too close! My dad stepped in chocobo poop, and it smells really bad!”

“Noctis, please. Why don’t you fetch me something to clean this up? There’s some rags in the trunk.”

The prince didn’t calm down, but Ignis heard Regis and fetched some disposable hand wipes for him.

“Thank you, Ignis, you’re my favorite son.”

Noctis frowned. “I would’ve gotten them for you!”

“It didn’t appear to me that you were even trying. You were too busy giggling.”

“Sorry, Dad. I’m not making fun of you.”

“I know. It is rather funny, especially when a king does it.” Noctis was right about the stench. When Regis wiped his boot on a nearby patch of grass before using the wipes, it only worsened the freshness of the smell.

Clarus stood back from the group, sending out a call to his wife, Thalia, to reassure her that they had made it and all of the children were safe. They hadn’t lost a single one at a rest stop. Not intentionally or accidentally, no matter how tempting.

After he hung up, Clarus moved a little closer to Regis only to back away and hold his nose in a different direction. By then, the children had already run off to crowd around a baby chocobo that had wandered near the parking area.

“They didn’t act up too much, I hope?”

“Not at all, not like yesterday,” said Regis. The day before, Noctis had snatched up a slumbering Iris’ moogle plush and fallen asleep using it as a pillow only for her to panic when she woke up. Noctis had then tried to place his vegetables on Gladiolus’ plate at dinner only to start launching fries across the table when Gladiolus stole a piece of bacon as a “tax” for making the greens disappear. Only the threat of going back to Insomnia and cancelling the trip would get them to settle down. Then Ignis had misplaced his glasses the night before, and they had lost an hour the following morning trying to find them. 

“Next time we vacation, we leave the children,” said Clarus, and Regis had the feeling he meant it.

“We made the choice with our wives to have children, remember? You even have _two_ of them.”

“And I don’t have any,” said Cor, looking rather pleased with his decision. Regis had a feeling if any of the antics from yesterday had continued, Cor might bow out of the vacation and hightail it back to Insomnia. The man had pure dedication running through his veins to have made it this far without losing his mind.

“I liked the first one so much that I decided to try my luck a second time.” Clarus glanced over at the kids with unashamed pride on his face. “I almost considered a third, but Thalia said we could only be this lucky twice.”

“I am rather fond of mine, too, even if he’s been rambunctious lately.”

“That’s because he’s taking more after you.” Clarus smirked. “I remember what you were like when you were young.”

Regis laughed.

“Do you think Queen Sylva is here yet?” asked Cor. 

“No, she texted me that they’d be a little late. They arrived at Galdin late last night, and they wanted to sleep in.”

“Good, that gives you plenty of time to wash off your boots,” said Clarus. “I see a water pump over there. I think that might work better than a few wipes.” He herded Regis over to it with a rather forceful hand on his shoulder.

Regis noticed something different about the post than the last time he had been here, long before Noctis was born and he had honeymooned with Aulea across the continent for two weeks. It had expanded since its early opening years. So why was it so quiet?

The chocobos weren’t doing their usual happy “kweh” sounds that they were so well known for. There weren’t many patrons either, despite it being the first week of break for most children living in the Crown City. There were hunters, though, and lots of them, crowded around the eatery.

“Ominous,” muttered Regis as he finished cleaning his shoe and slipped it back on, ignoring that some of the water had gotten inside. At least it was free of chocobo shit.

“Let’s talk to Wiz,” said Clarus.

It took a while to find the proprietor. He was surrounded by a small group of hunters, each of them badgering him with questions about the possible location of a nest.

Wiz noticed Regis and excused himself immediately to bow.

“Welcome to the Wiz Chocobo Post, your Majesty. I’m sorry for the mess right now. We’ve had sightings of a behemoth in the area. Had a problem with him a couple of years back and even lost a bird.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” said Regis. The poor man was in a difficult situation as a businessman and a caretaker.

“The track is still open, on account of it being within our security fences. But the birds are still on edge after hearing the behemoth walking around last night, so I’m not sure they’ll let anyone ride them. I’ve got hunters working to locate the beast and see an end to his reign.”

“We could help,” said Regis.

“Your Majesty…” Clarus didn’t put much effort into his protest. 

“Or we could explain to our children how they won’t be able to ride chocobos.”

“We would love to help,” amended Clarus.

“I can’t ask that of ye,” said Wiz, his face contorting with worry. 

“We don’t want to put you at unease, Wiz, but we’ve come a long way with four children and have plenty of experience battling monsters,” said Regis. “Besides, none of us want to grow soft in our old age.” Regis had noticed a few dark gray hairs over the past year. He could take out his annoyance on the behemoth. 

Wiz gestured toward the eatery. “I’ll tell you everything I know, then.”

Regis took a seat at a nearby table and listened to Wiz’s accounts of Deadeye in the hopes they might glean enough information to have this over and done with before the end of the day. Then all the children could ride chocobos, and the adults could stay perfectly sane.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was chapters four and five that were longer. This one is still short. I'm working on six, now. This kind of took over my Camp NaNo project because it's been a blast to write. :') 
> 
> Thalia Amicitia is a placeholder name. I'll change it immediately if she ever gets an official name. I felt like having her, especially when I realized I could have kept Aulea and/or given Ignis parents. (And Cindy, too, but I haven't introduced her yet.) But oh well, at least not all the mothers are dead? /sigh
> 
> Also, I'm trying not to make Noctis too...bratty? But I want him to be more of a kid in this who teases and laughs freely. Hopefully with less on his shoulders than in the anime and game, he'll be able to enjoy childhood a little more. And go fishing with his dad!


	4. Chapter 4

“Woah, a behemoth?” gasped Noctis, pulling away from his video game long enough to look at Gladiolus. “You’re making that up!”

“I heard Wiz telling our dads,” said Gladiolus. “You can ask them if you don’t believe me.”

“That explains the hunters,” said Ignis.

“We might not get to ride chocobos.” Gladiolus folded his arms across his chest and glanced over at the barn and pens where the birds were kept.

Noctis started to complain, but Iris’ whining drowned him out. She had been looking forward to riding the birds more than any of them.

“If it makes you feel better, I heard them mention Queen Sylva.”

Noctis’ eyes widened. “No way! Luna’s gonna be here?”

“Probably.”

He hopped off the brick fence, shutting off his game system before sliding it into his pocket. It took him a few minutes to find his Dad in the crowd of hunters. As he passed through them, he overheard bits about a hunt and stocking healing items; Gladiolus had at least been partially correct that something was going on. Noctis found Regis under a covered table with Wiz, Cor, and Clarus. All of them quieted their conversation as the children approached.

“Dad, is it true Luna’s gonna be here?”

Regis raised an eyebrow. “Where did you hear that?”

“Gladio said he heard you mention Queen Sylva! Dad, is that true?”

Regis sighed. “Yes, I guess that ruins the surprise. Ravus will be here, too.”

Noctis didn’t care about Ravus. The age difference between them was too great for them to be friends. 

“Is it true there’s a behemoth here?”

“Gladio, you really ought to keep some things to yourself,” said Clarus, eyes narrowed at his son.

“Sorry,” muttered Gladiolus, who did not sound the least bit sincere.

“You might’ve scared your sister.”

“She’s more upset about the chocobos.”

“So it’s true?” asked Noctis, raising his voice to make sure they all heard him and returned their attention to his question. 

“Yes, I’m afraid so,” said Regis. “I’m sorry, Noctis, I know you were—”

“Will it hurt the chocobos?”

“It will hurt anything on the other side of the fence,” said Wiz.

“So no wandering off the property,” said Regis. “I know that’s difficult to hear, since you planned to do some exploring, and you’d love to ride the chocobos, but it’s for everyone’s safety.”

“I bet it’s scary-looking.” Noctis would have liked to see one despite that if he did, he would most certainly be terrified. “How big is it? Does it have a lot of teeth? Will I know what it is if I see it?”

“Noctis, please. You won’t have to worry about it if you stay well within the fences and don’t go near the edges of the property.” Regis rubbed at his temples.

“He sounds like you,” said Clarus.

“I was never like that.”

“You’re like that now. I saw the look in your eyes when Wiz told you about the behemoth.”

“Boys, I want you to listen to me carefully,” said Regis, opting for a lecture. “Until the beast has been taken down, I don’t want any of you wandering off. Stay in pairs or larger, in case something happens.”

“Wait, but Iris isn’t with us!” Noctis whipped his head around to find her. They had managed to ditch her by the fence earlier; all three boys could outrun her. “She doesn’t know to stay with us, Dad. What if she—”

“I see her,” said Cor. He pointed to a barn. Iris was standing next to a chubby young boy around Noctis’ age, feeding the baby chocobos out of a paper bag.

Noctis had never been so glad to see her.

“Seems you like my sister more than you let on,” said Gladiolus, grinning.

“Yes, you must be rather fond of her to panic over her whereabouts,” said Regis. “Don’t run off and leave her behind right now. It isn’t safe.”

“We won’t, Dad.”

“I’ll go talk to her,” said Gladiolus. “Fill her in.”

Not wanting to be further lectured, Noctis hurried to catch up with the older boy’s strides. Ignis was at his side. From several feet away, he could hear Iris and the boy talking animatedly about the moogle chocobo carnival.

“I wanna go someday,” said Iris. “Daddy says he’ll take me.”

“It’s a lot of fun! We take the chocobos there to race them in water courses.” The boy paused when he noticed the others joining them. His eyes widened for a moment when they fell on Noctis. “H-hello!”

Noctis leaned over the wooden fencing. “Hey.”

Gladio hopped into the pen with one hand. He knelt down beside his sister. 

“Sorry for running off on you earlier,” he said. “King Regis says we have to stick together ‘cos there’s a nasty behemoth that’s been prowling around. The buddy system is in place.”

“Buddy system?” asked the blond boy as he spread out another handful of feed on the ground.

“Something our dads use,” said Noctis. “We have to have at least one other person with us at all times.”

“Oh.” The boy lowered his gaze to the ground and continued to feed the chocochicks.

“You can join our buddy system if you want,” said Noctis.

“Wait, really? But there are four of you! I’d make it uneven.”

Gladiolus laughed, and Noctis tried hard not to, covering his grin by putting his elbow on the fence post and cupping his chin in his palm, fingers over his lips.

“Then one of us can be a group of three.”

“Ooooh.” The kid kicked at the ground. “Gotcha.”

“What’s your name?”

“Prompto.”

“I’m Noctis!”

Prompto blushed. “Dude, I know that.”

“This is Ignis,” said Noctis, pointing as he made introductions. “Gladio. And you’ve already met Iris. She’s Gladio’s sister.” He studied the bag in Prompto’s hands. “Do you work here?”

“Wiz is my dad. Well, not my real dad. He adopted me.”

“Wait, does that mean you know about the behemoth?” Noctis put his feet on the lowest fence beam and leaned in toward Prompto.

“Deadeye? Yeah…” Prompto rubbed at one of his arms. “Why, what do you want to know?”

“Have you seen it?”

“I’ve got a picture of it,” admitted Prompto. “It got close to the farm the other day. It was big enough my dad upped the voltage on the fences.”

“I wanna see the picture!”

“Hold up,” said Gladiolus. “We can see the picture later. Lunafreya’s here.”

“Really?” Noctis turned toward the parking area. He straightened up, cupped his hands around his mouth, and shouted, “Luna! Over here!”

Luna was followed by two young dogs at her heels. They had been puppies when Noctis visited Tenebrae two years ago. He hopped off the fence and knelt down to pet both Umbra and Pryna.

“Hey, Luna,” he said. “Did you know there’s a behemoth? We can’t even ride the chocobos right now!”

“That’s terrible,” said Luna. “I was looking forward to riding! Ravus and I were going to race each other.”

“Prompto’s gonna show us a photo of us.” Noctis nodded his head behind him at his newfound friend. 

“Oh, I’d like to see it, too.”

“R-really?” squeaked Prompto. “Yeah, sure! Follow me!”

They were led to the house behind the food court. It had a wide porch surrounded by flowers. There were two doors to enter—one was to Wiz’s office, the other had no plaque on it but sported a flowery wreath. Prompto led them through the latter. 

They followed him down a narrow, carpeted hall with framed photos neatly spaced along the walls. 

“Did you take all those?” asked Noctis when Prompto paused in front of a door.

“Yeah, those are mine,” said Prompto before he led them inside a small bedroom.

There wasn’t a lot of room. Noctis plopped down on the bed. Iris squealed as soon as she saw the chocobo plushie and sat on the floor, cuddling against its chest. Gladio leaned against the closet door, arms folded across his chest. Ignis and Luna squeezed onto the bed beside Noctis, one on either side of him. Umbra and Pryna curled up at their feet.

“You have photos everywhere,” said Gladiolus. “They look professional!”

“Really? Thanks!” Prompto opened a desk drawer and pulled out a stack of photos. “I just had these developed this morning. Dad needed a copy of Deadeye to pass around to the hunters.” He held out the stack to Noctis.

“Wait, I can’t see!” Iris climbed onto the bed and crawled over to them. She rested her chin on Noctis’ shoulder. “That’s ugly!”

“Get off me,” he said half-heartedly. “You’re right. It’s ugly.”

“It’s scary,” agreed Ignis.

“I thought I’d die taking those pictures!” Prompto straddled his desk chair, arms folded across the back. “I was helping my dad lift some feed when we noticed it nearby. I had my camera with me, so I zoomed in and took some snapshots. Then it started to get really close to the fence.”

The pictures offered more insight to Prompto’s narrative. The photos started at a distance that even the zoom feature couldn’t disguise. The behemoth had turned toward the fence and gotten eerily close to it.

“Dad and I hurried out of there after that,” said Prompto. 

“I’m glad you’re safe,” said Luna.

“Let’s fight it,” said Noctis.

Everyone in the room went quiet.

“We can take it on!” said Noctis. “We’ve been training. We’ll defeat it, and then Iris can ride the chocobos!” If he didn’t offer Iris anything out of the deal, undoubtedly she would tattle on all of them before they even made it outside the property.

“Yeah, but our dads’ll kill us,” said Gladiolus. 

“But we’re all good with weapons, and some of us can use magic.” Noctis glanced at Prompto. “If you want to join us, you can.”

“Isn’t that…a really bad idea?” asked Prompto. “Wouldn’t it be better to leave it to the hunters? Dad’s bounty has drawn in dozens of them. Some even came here all the way from Meldaccio.”

“I agree, it’s a terrible idea,” said Ignis. “Noct, remember how I promised to be your advisor when we grew up? Can I advise you now?”

“But I want to ride the chocobos, too!” Noctis hated to admit that he had been as eager as Iris to come to the post. He hadn’t even had the chance to pet any of the birds earlier. As soon as he went up to their pens, they backed away and lowered their heads, feathers pressed back. The behemoth had them too shaken to even seek physical affection. All Noctis could do was coo a few words at them before he wandered off to play video games with Ignis.

“What if they kill the chocobos?” whined Iris.

“I hope that doesn’t happen,” said Prompto, resting his head in his arms. “I don’t think I could take that again.”

Noctis straightened up. “You mean it already has?”

“Two years ago, yeah.”

“No!” Iris tugged at Noctis’ shirt sleeve. “Please, Noct, you can’t let that happen.”

Noctis glanced at Gladiolus. “See? Even your sister wants us to help.”

“We’re gonna die.” Gladiolus grimaced. “You can’t fight a behemoth. If we somehow manage to live, our parents will finish the job.” He made a slitting motion across his throat, sucking breath between his teeth.

Noctis considered how long he might be grounded if he pulled this stunt. Even if they weren’t caught tracking it down, their parents would know as soon as they brought proof that they had slayed the monster. 

“You don’t have to come with me,” said Noctis. “There’s no reason to get into trouble, too. But we didn’t come all the way from Insomnia to look at scared chocobos, did we?”

“No,” said Ignis.

“Yeah, I guess you have a point there,” said Gladiolus.

“I’ll help!” said Lunafreya. “I can’t sit back and do nothing.”

“I’ll watch the chocobos!” said Iris.

“What about the buddy system?” said Gladiolus. “We can’t leave my sister here without someone to look after her.”

“I’ll go find Daddy!” said Iris. “I promise I won’t tell him anything.”

Noctis had no confidence she wouldn’t let something slip, but it was the best plan any of them had. 

“Do you want to come, too?” he asked Prompto. The look he received made him wish he hadn’t asked. “You don’t have to. It must be pretty scary after losing a chocobo.”

“I’ll go,” said Prompto in such a low voice it was nearly a whisper. “I don’t want it to happen again, and I think I can help you track down its lair based on what I’ve overheard from the hunters. I know the area, too. Plus I’ll have a camera, so I can take one as proof that it’s dead.”

“Then let’s stock up on potions!” said Noctis.

“With what money?” asked Gladiolus.

“I’ve got some gil,” said Ignis. “I have a few potions, too. I always carry some around, in case the two of you do anything stupid and get hurt, like that time Noctis fell out of a tree trying to save that cat.”

“All right! You’re always coming through, Ignis.” Noctis grinned at his companions. “Let’s get ready to save the chocobos!”

Noctis wouldn’t admit it, but he was as scared as the others. Seeing a behemoth was different than fighting one, but he was a prince and Gladiolus hadn’t been putting him through grueling training for him to waste everything he had learned. And what good was any royalty if they couldn’t save the chocobos?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not the nicest way to start off a new friendship, but hey. :') At least they'll all be ~~murdered by their parents~~ ~~grounded~~ ~~eaten by a behemoth~~ on this wild ride together. Regis is going to wish there was a crystal to put his son in for ten years safekeeping after this stunt. (That's a bad joke, I know.)
> 
> I imagine Prompto is athletic because of all the work he does with the chocobos, but he's still a little chubby. People can be chubby and athletic, damnit.
> 
> I'm already on chapter seven of this thing (which might be chapter eight, 'cos I realized I need to add a few things and do some rewriting for better transitions) 'cos...even though it's kind of silly right now, it's fun to write. Though I have another FFXV story distracting me. (One I haven't abandoned...yet.)


	5. Chapter 5

Regis helped Clarus unload curatives from his trunk, amazed that there were so many that hadn’t been stored in the armiger. They were kept in a crate next to a tool kit, a carving set, and a case filled with weapons. How Clarus managed to fit luggage for the trip and camping equipment in the same car was anyone’s guess.

Clarus closed the trunk of the car. “Do you think that will be enough?”

Regis counted them as he added them to the armiger. Clarus had added about forty to his twenty-five. 

“Plenty,” he said. He turned to Cor. “Now, are you certain you can handle four children?” 

Cor grimaced. “I’d be more useful to his Majesty than if I stayed here.”

“We’ll make sure they have lunch before we leave.” The menu: Cor’s sanity, served steamy with a trace of bitterness. “Cor, who else would take care of them? I’m entrusting their safety to you. All you have to do is make sure they stay in the hotel, occupied. It looks like it’ll rain. Make sure the game systems are charged. It’ll be quiet as long as they’re playing games.”

“Where are they?” asked Clarus. 

In a sea of hunters, it was difficult to find anyone younger than twenty. Even the employees at the post were few and far between. Almost everyone was wearing cargo pants, vests, and some kind of ammunition and weapons on a belt or strap. Regis had never seen more leather and canvas outside of his time in Meldaccio and the Prairie Outpost—where hunters often gathered. 

“Perhaps they’ve already gone inside?” suggested Cor.

“Or they’re in the barn with the chocobos,” said Clarus. “It seems all the birds they had out are now inside the stables with the others. Even the babies Iris was feeding earlier.”

“I’ll check the hotel,” said Cor.

“We’ll check the barn, then,” said Regis.

Clarus led the way to the chocobo stables. The smell of bedding, feed, and dung invaded Regis’ nostrils, and the temptation to pinch his nose was strong. He could scarce understand how anyone enjoyed working around the birds with these smells present on a daily basis. 

The stables only had two employees. Both were refilling water troughs and cooing to the animals. Every bird remained jumpy and avoidant. 

“Poor creatures,” said Regis. He stopped at one stall and looked a chocobo in the eye. “They’re quite adapted to being around monsters—they’ll even fight to protect their rider—so this behemoth must be a mighty threat.”

“It is,” said one of the attendants. He shut off the water hose and stood. “Deadeye feeds on wild chocobos. These’re domesticated, but they haven’t forgotten what a behemoth’s scent means. They’re worried for their lives. All we can do is keep them calm.”

“Wiz showed us a picture his son took of Deadeye.”

“Yeah, that’s why we’ve brought them all inside. Wiz thinks the fences will hold him off, but the chocobos don’t know that. So we’ve put them in here for now.” The man took a slice of carrot out of his belt pouch and held it out, but the chocobo in the stall wouldn’t come near. “See? They won’t even take their favorite treats. A lot of them got sick two years ago when Deadeye first showed up. It was a relief when he disappeared. We’d hoped he’d died.”

“Seems that isn’t the case,” said Regis. “According to Wiz, it is the same behemoth.” He slid a finger from his right eyebrow down to his cheek, where Deadeye had been attacked by hunters two years previously.

The attendant nodded. “Yes, your Majesty. It is the same behemoth.”

“Thanks for your insight,” said Regis. “I don’t suppose you’ve seen any children around here? Mostly boys, but they have a couple of girls with them, too.”

“Ah, sorry, I was focused on the chocobos, your Majesty.”

“No, it’s fine. It’s better that you do. I hope this will come to an end soon. It’s a shame to see these beautiful creatures under such stress.” Regis left the attendant. If the children weren’t in the barn, he would need to look elsewhere. 

Cor was standing outside one of their reserved rooms at the hotel with Iris clinging to his pant leg when Regis and Clarus met up with him.

“What have they done?” asked Regis when he was close enough to be heard without shouting.

Cor glanced at Iris. “She says they were worried about the chocobos.”

“We didn’t find them in the stables,” said Regis, his fear mounting. “Iris, where are they?”

She let out a sniff and buried her face in Cor’s hip.

“They went after Deadeye,” said Cor.

Regis cursed in a way no king should. Beside him, Clarus let out a more creative string of swears—Regis might have found some of the originals amusing if he weren’t upset.

“Who did? Didn’t they meet up with Luna? Please tell me she’s here.”

Cor shook his head. “No. She went with them. They’ve also gone with Wiz’s son.”

“Did they drag every child except Iris along on this asinine adventure?” Clarus seethed, but when he saw the terrified look on his daughter’s face, he gestured for her to come closer. Iris took a few steps forward, still crying her hardest. “Iris, do you know which way they headed?”

“No, Daddy.”

“Why didn’t you tell us sooner?”

“’Cos I wanted to save the chocobos, too!”

Clarus ran a hand through her hair and pulled her into a hug. He glanced at Regis with apprehension.

“Five children are going after Deadeye,” said Regis. “We don’t have much time. Cor, please look after Iris. Clarus and I don’t have any time to waste. Please inform Queen Sylva of the situation.” He didn’t envy Cor. If they had had more time, he would have insisted Sylva join them.

“Yes, your Majesty,” said Cor.

“Come on, Clarus, we must find them before this behemoth does.”

“Or they find it,” said Clarus. “Either way, they’ll wish _we_ hadn’t found _them_.”

“Quite right,” agreed Regis. A certain prince was going to be grounded until his hair was grayer than Regis’.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What was originally chapter five is now chapter six...and I might add it tonight, depending on how soon it gets edited. I think it might be my favorite chapter from this story, too, because I like writing fight scenes. :')


	6. Chapter 6

Prompto had never been considered a difficult child. 

While the prince and his companions worried—a little too halfheartedly—that their parents would butcher them, Prompto had no idea how Wiz would react. Maybe cry. Yes, definitely, Wiz would burst into tears. Never in his life had Prompto disobeyed the rules. Not once. Prompto had always been a reliable son. Every one of the employees adored him. 

Under the weight of his guilt, how did he manage to put one foot in front of the other and lead four other kids to their doom? But if he wasn’t there, the other four would still go. At least he had some familiarity with the area. He could keep them alive _longer_. Maybe they’d be caught by hunters and dragged back to the post? Better to be found by a group of armed adults than a muscular killing machine.

“You okay?” asked Gladiolus, falling into step with him.

“Terrified,” admitted Prompto, fingers fidgeting with his camera strap. “But I can do this.”

“Do you have any experience with that?” Gladiolus pointed to the gun holster at Prompto’s hip.

“My dad taught me how to shoot at predators, in case they go after the birds. I need more practice for smaller targets, but I know how to use it.”

“Not like you’d miss a behemoth.”

Prompto chuckled, nerves frilling. He would have his head snapped off his neck with the swipe of Deadeye’s claws. After that, he’d be eaten. At least he wouldn’t feel it, since he’d be headless.

Shit, he was going to die. They were all going to die in a permanent way.

“We’re not gonna die,” said Gladiolus. 

“Didn’t know you were reading my mind…”

“I don’t have to. It’s all over your face.”

“Ah, that place where all my blood will be when it decapitates me.”

Gladiolus snorted. “You have a gun. Keep your distance. I’m at close range, so I’ll lose my head first. And if Deadeye doesn’t take it, my dad will.”

Prompto had seen the person Iris had said was her father. Clarus Amicitia looked pleasant enough on the right side, but he had the face of someone with a history of dealing with insubordination sternly. 

“See those trees?” said Prompto, pointing to splintered firs along the forest path. He made some adjustments on the camera and snapped a photo. “Nothing around here does that. Catoblepas don’t drift this far from the slough, and garula aren’t tall enough.”

“So that has to be Deadeye,” said Gladiolus.

“Your security fences can hold against a monster of this size?” asked Ignis, circling beneath the damage.

“We don’t know…” Prompto pulled up his camera’s photo storage. “The largest we’ve had was a gigantoad. It hopped too close and fried. The garulas don’t mess with it—the noise when it’s on makes them nervous enough they don’t come near the post.”

“So it is possible Deadeye could breach your security.” Ignis glanced at Noctis. “Are you sure you want to continue on?”

Prompto hoped he would agree to go back, but he knew before Noctis shook his head what the answer would be.

“If it can break through the fences, there’s no way we can leave it alone.”

“I’d be real upset if I saw a behemoth kill a chocobo,” said Gladiolus. “Iris would be upset, too. She’s just a kid.”

“So are we,” said Prompto. When everyone turned to him, he began to fiddle with his camera strap again. “Maybe not as young as Iris, but we’re no hunters.”

“And the hunters haven’t succeeded either,” muttered Gladiolus.

“So we should go back and do nothing?” asked Lunafreya. 

“Gladio, what about your sister?” asked Noctis. “She’s at the post, looking out for the chocobos for us. We can’t let her down.”

“Hah, sometimes you sound like a prince more than you realize.” Gladiolus sniffed, a congested loud noise in the quiet forest. “We gotta see this through.” He turned to Prompto. “You still in?”

Prompto bit his lip. They had two royal children with them, but those two seemed the most determined to see Deadeye taken down. He was a normal kid with nothing but a pistol and a camera.

He nodded. “Yeah, for the chocobos. And Iris.” He had only met the girl two hours beforehand, but he liked her. Gladiolus was lucky to have a little sister. And friends.

“I can track it,” said Prompto. “Look for footprints. The ground’s damp enough that as long as it doesn’t rain, we should be able to spot fresh tracks.”

They didn’t find them but a few feet from the trees. They ended at some rocks, where the behemoth had leapt with ease to the other side.

“We need to find a way in,” said Gladiolus.

“There’s one nearby,” said Prompto. “I’ve never been in. I’m not allowed out that far from the post, and Wiz said there are wild chocobos in there that I should leave alone.”

“So it might hurt wild ones?” asked Noctis, eyes widening. “That’s awful!”

Prompto hadn’t thought of that. Wiz had taught him the difference between the chocobos outside of the post and the domesticated ones they raised. Deadeye threatened both. Surely Wiz would understand that when weighing in on how upset with Prompto he should be?

Prompto clicked several photos to help keep track of their surroundings so they would be able to find a way out as easily as they had managed a way in. 

Not too far in, they heard a roar and the sound of tree limbs snapping.

Everyone summoned their weapons, but there was a similar look on everyone’s faces. One that said, “Oh shit, we’re over our heads.”

Maybe, just maybe, it wasn’t too late to turn back.

The thought comforted Prompto for half a second before he saw everyone step forward. Why didn’t he tell them they were all headed in the wrong direction, that the way they had come was safer? The sooner they got out, the more alive they would all be.

A few more steps later and they saw the end of a large tail. They hid behind rocks, mist thickening around them. It would rain soon. How would they get back, if they couldn’t see the different landmarks Prompto had so carefully photographed? Not that it mattered much, if they were going to be eaten for dinner by a behemoth.

Prompto stuck by Gladiolus’ side. The young teen seemed more than capable of handling the broadsword slung across his shoulder.

They managed to squeeze between two rocks and found themselves in what had once been a factory. The ceiling had been destroyed at least a hundred years ago, the windows gutted, the brick foundation crumbling. The rain pelted them as they ducked behind one of the walls. Ignis drew up a quick plan of the last actions they would take before they were slaughtered.

Prompto’s stomach cramped as he took care handling Wiz’s pistol. He didn’t put his hand near the trigger in case of a misfire.

Ignis pointed out where they would each go and what they would do. Most of his directions were mouthed and motioned. Prompto was directed to stay behind the wall and fire of his gun from over the ledge. Ignis would hurry his way around to a higher vantage point and hit Deadeye with a magic before plunging at it with a lance. Luna was to do something similar for another high point, and Noctis was to start with magic before joining Gladiolus in the fray with a sword.

Ignis signified reaching his point of safety by launching the first attack. A firaga spell exploded, shaking the foundation of the brick wall against Prompto’s back. He winced as the behemoth roared. It took a moment for him to collect his thoughts and roll to his knees.

He glanced through the window in time to see Luna and Ignis combine an attack with lances, plunging them into Deadeye’s sides. The thick flesh did not easily yield. They had barely made a scratch on the beast. With quick stomps, Deadeye turned on them.

More spells went off—all of them firaga. Many of them were aimed at the old oil barrels, which helped create more flames. Prompto only hoped the rain would keep it from spreading to the forest.

“Gladio, now!” shouted Ignis.

Gladilolus ran from behind his hiding spot and slashed his sword down on the hindquarters of the behemoth. This did more noticeable damage to its thick skin, leaving an ugly gash that spilled dark blood. It whipped its head around to face its most recent attacker. Prompto waited for a better shot and aimed for its good eye. Prompto caught it in the nose instead, but it was enough that Deadeye sniffed before slamming his head through the open window. The already weakened bricks gave way. Prompto sprawled on his back and only had a few seconds to crawl back before the behemoth opened its jaws and took a snap at him.

Deadeye’s breath was rank like the smell of a mildewed rag. His teeth didn’t sink into Prompto because a thick blade whacked it across the nose. Gladiolus held out his hand to Prompto and hoisted him back onto his feet.

“Thanks,” said Prompto, skipping aside until he found another area of brick walls to shield him. Gladiolus followed, swinging his sword to bat away the behemoth as Ignis, Luna, and Noctis took aim at its hindquarters.

They were losing. Deadeye swiped at Gladiolus, talons catching on the sword and sending the teenager flying back. Then it turned to the three behind it.

Prompto took shots at Deadeye’s back, but none of them seemed to penetrate. Each bullet couldn’t have been more than a mosquito bite to the behemoth.

His heart sank. He wasn’t going to save the others. It would annihilate them first before it went after him or Gladiolus. If he ran away to save his life, it would mean abandoning the rest to their fate.

A blue flash erupted near the back of the behemoth. After another moment, Prompto realized they were weapons, swirling in a circle as they clashed into the beast. The impact knocked it down, and someone in a short cape took a running leap into the air with a broadsword before slamming it down against Deadeye’s neck. The behemoth roared as bones cracked.

Blood pooled around its face. The man in the cape, who Prompto now recognized as Clarus Amicitia, took one last aim at its face and sent his sword through its skull. The circling armory returned to its master, who stepped beside Prompto before they disappeared.

King Regis glanced down at Prompto and gave him a look that he would never forget. It did not hold any warmth or affection. 

Prompto bowed his head and hurried to stuff the pistol in its holster. 

Luna brushed debris from her arms and helped Ignis to his feet, Gladiolus rolled onto his knees and took a few deep breaths, and Noctis took tentative steps toward his father. Weapons disappeared as Noctis stored them away.

“What were you thinking?” Although Clarus didn’t scream, his voice was sharp enough to make everyone but the king flinch. 

Clarus reached out a hand to his son and helped him to his feet.

“You’re all lucky to be alive.”

King Regis pointed to Prompto’s camera. “Can I trouble you to take a photo before we leave?”

“Yes…sir.” Somehow Prompto doubted that he had properly addressed the king, but it took ages for him to calm his jittery fingers to snap a few decent shots of Deadeye. He kept expecting the behemoth to launch another attack. It wasn’t until King Regis put a calming but firm hand on his shoulder that he stilled long enough to get a steady photo. He held the camera’s view mode to Regis. “Is this one all right?”

“Yes, thank you.”

Prompto switched off his camera and began to tug at the strap around his neck. He wanted to cry, and a few times on the trek back to the post, his eyes watered fiercely. If this was what having friends was like—getting into trouble with them and maybe being executed by the king for putting his son in danger—then maybe he was better off talking to chocobos.

Prompto saw his father waiting by one of the chocobo gates as they neared. His heart dropped into his stomach.

Wiz bowed his head at Regis. “I’m sorry, your Majesty.”

“You haven’t done anything wrong, Wiz,” said Regis, putting a hand on Wiz’s shoulder. “It’ll be all right. We found all of them in time.”

Wiz glanced at Prompto before he spoke again. “He’s never done anything like this.”

“My son has,” said Regis. “And where he goes, Ignis will follow. I didn’t expect this of Luna or Gladio, though. I take your word for it that this is a first for your son.”

“Not gonna let Noct go alone…” muttered Gladiolus, who withered under the look his father gave him. He didn’t look nearly as tall and broad next to Clarus.

“All five of you are old enough to know better,” said King Regis. “Luna, let’s find your parents. Prompto, I will hand you back to your father’s care. I believe you also have a photo to show him. He deserves some relief after this scare.”

Prompto and Wiz stood awkwardly alone as King Regis and Clarus led the rest of the kids toward the hotel. 

After a while, Wiz frowned. 

“That was real reckless, Prompto.”

“I know. I’m so sorry.”

“I’m having trouble being angry with you. I know it has to be lonely out here, being homeschooled and not having a lot of kids your age. I couldn’t imagine you’d go with them, but I searched everywhere and didn’t find you. Then that Cor fellow with the king told me what you’d done. That you’d gone with them to fight Deadeye.”

Prompto sniffed and swiped at the tears that had been building up for almost an hour. 

“I’m sorry, Dad. I didn’t mean to worry you. Everyone was scared of Deadeye, and we were worried about the chocobos. I think Deadeye could have broken through the fencing, too.” Prompto fumbled with his camera, the buttons hard to see through his blurry eyes. He lifted the strap over his head and handed it over to Wiz.

“He’s huge,” admitted Wiz. “A fearsome beast. It reassures me to know he won’t be a threat anymore.”

“King Regis and Clarus Amicitia saved us. We were almost killed.”

Wiz clicked off the camera and crossed his arms. “Now that ruffles my feathers. I wouldn’t know what to do if you had died out there. I suppose nearly getting killed might be enough to make you think twice about doing it again, but you knew better. We saw what Deadeye could do two years ago when he killed Beans.” 

“I know.”

“You’re grounded for two weeks. You’ll have extra chores. No leaving the property, no game systems, and…” Wiz took a deep breath. “No camera.”

Prompto nodded. It sounded fair enough. He’d miss his camera, but he would have missed it more if he had died. He would find out over the next two weeks how painful it would be not to be able to take pictures at his leisure or play video games. Chores weren’t so bad, since they would help Wiz in the long run. 

He would change his mind about that when he discovered that cleaning bug-ridden cellars were the _worst punishment ever._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompto is ready to doublecheck and see if King Regis isn't going to execute him, 'cos that sounds like a waaaay better fate than cellars crawling with centipedes and roaches. Poor sunshine child. ):


	7. Chapter 7

“It could be worse.”

Noctis lifted his head and glowered at Gladiolus. Their parents hadn’t restricted them from every perk of the chocobo ranch because they had driven too far from Insomnia to spend the entire time indoors, but they weren’t _lucky_. New rules had been put in place. They couldn’t leave the hotel room without being accompanied by one of the adults in charge. No riding the chocobos except inside the confines of the race track. The worst of it would begin when they returned to Insomnia or Tenebrae, where they would be assigned extra essays and reading materials.

“Gladio’s right,” said Ignis. “They saved our lives.”

“Yes, we did that so we could kill you ourselves,” said Clarus, stepping into the room from the hallway. “We’re having trouble deciding if we want to do it slowly or get it over with quickly.”

Noctis turned on his side to face the wall. He couldn’t stand it. His dad had taken away all his games. Gladiolus had lost his phone privileges, so Noctis couldn’t steal it to pass the time. They could study, read books, and hang out together indoors. At least King Regis had said it was all right if they wanted to spend time with Prompto, since they wouldn’t see him again once they left. Unfortunately, he had been grounded, too, and was busy with extra chores. He promised to meet them at the race track after he had finished cleaning the storage cellars.

Luna was allowed to hang out with them, too, but she had been put on the worst restriction out of all of them. Her mother made her read in their hotel room that morning.

“Where’s Iris?” asked Gladiolus. “I thought she’d be with you, Dad.”

“King Regis is treating her to a smoothie,” said Clarus. “She’s been such a chatterbox that it made her thirsty.”

Noctis groaned. “I want a smoothie.”

“Maybe your father will consider treating you to one later today,” said Clarus. “He’s coming back soon. You’ll have a small window to use the tracks before the races start.”

“I’m taking a nap,” said Noctis, closing his eyes. If he couldn’t play games, he would think about them in his dreams.

~*~

The limited area in which they could ride mattered little when Noctis met the bird he would be riding. It snuggled up to him before he was helped into the saddle by the attendant. She took treats gently from his open palm and responded wonderfully to his encouragement. His heart sped up when she took her first leap into the air, using her wings to glide smoothly back to the ground.

“Whoo!” Noctis couldn’t help it. He felt free even as he trotted between his father and Ignis on the back of his chocobo. The fences around the property wouldn’t have allowed him to dash away without some difficulty, but Regis had still been keeping a careful eye on him.

The chocobo rides made everything better. If they had only waited out the hunt on the behemoth, Noctis could have taken a stroll around the slough to check out the fishing spots. Deadeye would have been slayed more efficiently by people with more appropriate skills, like Clarus and Regis.

As Noctis trotted his chocobo near the finish line, he noticed Prompto sitting by the stall, waving at him. At least the fiasco hadn’t made the other boy hate him. Even when Prompto had explained that he had been in trouble, too—with far less lecturing and fewer sets of angry eyes—he didn’t hate Noctis for dragging him into his plan.

Noctis waved back and eased his chocobo to a stop by the gate.

“Thank you for the ride,” he told the chocobo as an attendant rewarded her with a carrot. 

“How’d it feel?” asked Prompto as Noctis hopped the gate. “Riding chocobos is the best feeling, isn’t it?”

“They’re so cute!” agreed Noctis. “You almost don’t notice the smell when you’re riding them for a while.”

“You get used to the smell.”

“So how did the cleaning go?” asked Noctis as the two of them found a seat in the bleachers nearby. 

“Gross.” Prompto leaned back and let out a loud, long groan. “There were centipedes everywhere! I screamed a million times.”

“Suddenly I’m glad I wasn’t allowed to help.” When Noctis had offered, Prompto had told him that he was in no way permitted to have any assistance with his extra chores. It didn’t matter who wanted to join in on the cleaning. No one was even allowed to sit around and offer him company to pass the time. “I hate bugs as much as you do!”

“Do you have them in the Citadel?” 

“Only in the gardens. Sometimes I see spiders or flies inside. The cleaning service would never let them stay. In the city, there are bugs, though! Like some places have roaches and crickets.”

“I like it when crickets sing.”

“Me too. But I wouldn’t want to touch them!”

“Same here!” Prompto scrunched up his nose. He straightened up. “This will be your first time seeing a chocobo race.”

“Yeah! What do they do?”

Prompto explained the different courses. Some were simple speed runs on flat terrain, but others were obstacle courses where the agility of the chocobos was also tested. No more than four people could run a course.

“Does anyone bet on them?” asked Noctis.

“No, Dad doesn’t allow that around here—says that brings in all the wrong kinds of people. It’s all for fun. There are prizes for the winners. The chocobos get extra treats whether they win or lose for doing their best, and the person riding them can get something like a potion or an elixir.”

None of that sounded tempting to Noctis, but he was far too young to participate in the races anyway. 

Regis and Ignis joined them on the bleacher together as Prompto was telling Noctis the names of the four birds that were being raced at the time. The four going up were Monty, Tickles, Flora, and Dame. 

“Hey, Dad, you should enter,” said Noctis, glancing up at his father.

“Someone has to keep an eye on you,” said Regis with a soft smile. “I bought some chips, too. They’re made from greens. Do you want to try one?”

“No way!” Noctis backed away as his father produced a bag from his jacket. 

“Ignis?” 

“Thank you, your Majesty.” 

Noctis watched in horror as his childhood friend consumed something that should have been made with salt, potatoes, and oil. It was light green, though Prompto reassured him that the color was enhanced with an organic food dye.

“Was it good?” asked Noctis.

“You wouldn’t like it,” said Ignis. “Yes, I thought it was good.”

“Feel free to have another.” Regis held out the bag as he used his spare fingers to brush crumbs out of his beard. “They’re messy.”

“Maybe you should shave,” suggested Noctis.

Regis chuckled. “No, no, I’m getting too old to pretend I’m young. I’ll wear my age proudly.”

“I’m never gonna have a beard.”

“Tell me that again in thirty years.”

“Never.” 

“Me either,” said Ignis.

“I feel like you’ve both teamed up against me. Prompto, what do you think?”

The kid on the other side of Noctis widened his eyes. “Er…” He played around with the string of his boot. “I don’t know. I can’t grow one yet.”

“At least you’re open to the idea. These two are against them already, and they don’t know what it’s like.”

“You probably have food from last week in that thing,” said Noctis, poking at his father’s course facial hair. 

“You’re supposed to wash them,” said Regis, batting his son’s hand away. “Oh, look, they’re about to start. Watch Flora closely. I have a feeling she’s going to win.”

Noctis pulled his eyes away from his father and cheered as a fake gun went off with a brief pop to signify the start of the race. The chocobos took off, Monty faring better than the rest. Tickles lagged further behind all the others. Dame was not far behind Monty until she became exhausted and fell back, not too far ahead of Tickles. Flora paced herself. Midway through the course, she dashed past Monty into the lead and remained there until the blew past the finish line.

They couldn’t gamble, but Regis grinned down at his son, who couldn’t believe that his father had guessed correctly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have so many chapters written for this and a million ideas for them, none of which really give it any plot like the Deadeye thing (but I'm thinking over ways to make it more interesting). I want each year to have its own kind of theme or event. I'm undecided as of right now, so updates might be slow. I'll probably at least wrap up this year's visit, which has two more chapters.


	8. Chapter 8

It had never occurred to Regis to take up fishing until the day his son pleaded they go to the reservoir in Insomnia together. Since then, Noctis had been schooling him on the finer points of angling. Sometimes with patience, and other times…

“Dad, you’ll snag it if you cast out like that!” Noctis waved his arms frantically, trying to demonstrate the superior technique to getting the line in the water with an invisible rod.

“Show me,” said Regis. Maybe if he saw Noctis do it, he could replicate the movement.

The kid had only been fishing for about three years, but he swung out the line in one fluid movement. With a few gentle reels and flicks, Noctis tempted the fish to take it. None did by the time he had brought it back to the dock. 

“Your turn,” said Noctis firmly, handing the rod back to his father. “Do it right.”

Regis chuckled. “I will. I won’t send it into the trees. I promise.”

“Good, ‘cos I’m not spooling the line for you.”

“I’ll do it myself, if I mess up that badly.”

He didn’t. He performed a sloppy copy of his son’s casting. The lure landed into the water with a wet plop and began to sink. 

“Good job, Dad. Maybe you’ll actually catch something.”

“It would be easy to push you off this dock.” Regis began to hum out the chocobo theme.

“Dad, you’re supposed to fish _quietly_.”

Aside from some tips, Noctis didn’t speak to anyone. When he finally managed to snag something on the end of his line, he stood up abruptly from his folded camping chair and began his patient battle. He eased the rod in the direction of the fish’s movement, pausing his reeling when it thrashed.

“Dad! I can see it!” 

The fish neared the dock, a lengthy and fat barramundi that wriggled on the end of the clip in its mouth. Regis held it up to his son.

Noctis let out a pleased whoop and set down his rod. “Ignis, I caught a fish!” 

The older boy sat up from his folded chair near the tackle shop and ran over.

“Good job, Noct!”

“We’re gonna eat it tonight, right Dad?” asked Noctis, pumping his fists.

“Of course we are.” Regis had no idea how to prepare a fish, but Clarus would have an idea. If not him, maybe someone else would know.

“I have to catch another!” said Noctis, scooping up his rod as Regis set the barramundi in a cooler. “One isn’t gonna be enough. Dad, you catch one, too!”

“I’ll watch,” said Ignis.

“I wish Prompto could’ve joined us and brought his camera, too! He could’ve taken a picture of my first real catch!” 

Regis had asked Wiz if Prompto could join them, but the boy was restricted to the post grounds and not even a king could request an exception be made. Regis wasn’t sure about Prompto. If Wiz was to be believed, the kid had never pushed boundaries or been anything more than charming and helpful. But part of that assistance had extended to showing several children—including a prince and a princess—the way to their doom, and Regis hadn’t been pleased. 

Ignis had been guilty of a similar error. He accompanied Noctis when he slipped out of the Citadel instead of informing an adult. Regis could recall Clarus doing the same for him, but as a father, he could look back and disapprove of his own behavior. There was no reason to excuse his child repeating it.

At least fishing would keep Noctis out of trouble for a day. Regis would have liked to end the fishing part and head back sooner, but why, when there was still daylight and his son was so happy? 

Noctis managed to catch several bluegill and another, much smaller, barramundi. If they all ate small fillets and substituted with enough rice and veget—oh, who was he kidding, his son wasn’t going to eat any of the greens put on his plate. The rice and fish would have to do for the picky prince.

Regis was left with the laborious duty of carrying the cooler, which contained not only edible fish but also the bluegill Noctis insisted they keep. Sometimes fish like that could be used for bait and sold easily to shops. 

The hike back was nice. Noctis and Ignis ran ahead, not so far that they were out of sight. Clarus had taken Iris on another chocobo ride, and somehow Gladiolus had pestered Cor into sparring with him.

Luna waited on the porch at the hotel with her brother when they arrived. The two had some sort of board game set up between them, but she abandoned it when she noticed their return.

“Did you catch anything?” she asked as she ran over.

“Yes! We can only eat two, but I caught some bluegill. Dad says you can’t eat ‘em, but I wanna sell them if I can.”

“Ravus?” Luna turned to her brother. “Can I go with Noctis?”

Ravus stood and followed, but he didn’t look excited about it. 

Noctis, Ignis, and Luna all gathered around the poor shopkeeper and described the fish to him before Regis had time to set the cooler down and pop it open.

Noctis’ enthusiasm was short lived when the shopkeeper told him how much they were worth. 

“Only two gil?” said Noctis. “That’s only twelve gil total…”

“Bluegill are common and pesky, as I told you when you caught them.” Regis placed a gentle hand on his son’s shoulder. “Twelve gil is quite a lot. I imagine if you’d have more time to fish, you could’ve caught something more impressive.”

“I can take one of the barramundi for more,” said the shopkeeper.

“No way, we’re cooking those!” Noctis shook his head.

“Is that so? Well, here’s your twelve gil for the others, and enjoy your meal!” The shopkeeper took the bluegill as he dropped a few coins into Noctis’ waiting palm.

“Your first payment from any job,” said Regis proudly.

“I guess.” Noctis groaned.

“Well, as he said, you would’ve made more if you had sold the barrumundi, but instead you’re going to feed us.”

Noctis frowned down at the two fish left in the cooler. Even a ten year old could tell that once deboned, they wouldn’t be enough food for everyone.

“We’ll figure it out,” said Regis as he clapped the lid on the cooler and lifted it again. “Come on, let’s get the rods stored in the car.”

Noctis slipped the coins into his pocket and hurried after his father.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This year's vacation is coming to a close. One more chapter and it'll be back to Insomnia for Regis and Co. :(
> 
> ...But Noctis will be returning. (And there will be some vacations that take place in Altissia!) At least, that's the plan. I've been neglecting this fic for others. :')


	9. Chapter 9

Noctis wasn’t ready to leave the post. All the kids had gathered on Wiz’s front porch with their parents’ permission to watch the stars and have hot chocolate before bed on their final night. Iris was curled against Noctis, sleeping, while Prompto sat on his other side. Ignis took the step below, sandwiched between Gladiolus and Lunafreya. On the path up to the house, Umbra and Pryna stood guard. Ravus and the adults had all gathered inside Wiz’s kitchen, where they could easily keep an eye from the window on all the children. 

Fireflies danced lazily in the air around them, shimmering like distant stars. Iris had managed to catch and release a few. The sound of gentle snoring chocobos could be heard not but a few yards away. 

Despite the rough start to their trip, Noctis had never had so much fun in his life.

“Prompto, we have to write to each other,” said Noctis.

“Really?” Prompto grinned. “Do you need my address?”

“I know where you live.” Noctis laughed. “And you can write to the Citadel!”

Gladiolus pulled out his cell phone. “Hey, do you have a phone, Prompto?”

Prompto shook his head. “No. Hadn’t thought about it. Don’t need one.”

“I don’t have one either,” said Noctis glumly. 

“I didn’t get one till this year,” said Gladiolus. “Why don’t you have one, Ignis?”

“I do…” Ignis kept his voice intentionally low so none of the adults could hear him. “My uncle gave to me for emergencies. I can’t even download apps, or I’ll get in trouble.”

“That’s lame.” Noctis frowned. He could have played on Ignis’ phone to pass the next week of his grounding. Noctis didn’t think his father would allow him his own phone any time soon. Regis carried one but seldom used it.

“We can still write,” said Prompto. “I have cool stamps and stickers I can put on the envelope! I get all kinds of stationary at the moogle chocobo carnival.”

“Oh, maybe I can find stickers, too!” Noctis liked that idea. “Ignis, will you help me find stickers when we get home?”

“Sure, Noct.”

“Awesome!” Suddenly it didn’t seem so bad being stuck without a phone.

“I’ll come see you next year,” said Noctis. “If my dad will let me.”

Gladiolus let out a short, doubtful laugh, but the smile on Prompto’s face made it worth the promise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a short chapter. Thus concludes this trip to the chocobo ranch. I have thirteen chapters written so far, though a couple of them are unfinished because I lost steam but wanted my ideas down before I forgot them. :'( (I also have a side story/intermission thing that explains how Wiz ended up with custody of Prompto. It is also unfinished...but it's mostly done. xD)


End file.
